Villas-Boas shrugs off Chelsea slump

12 February 2012 03:46

Andre Villas-Boas shrugged off taunts from Chelsea's fans and demanded a huge improvement from his players after their top-four hopes suffered a serious setback at Everton.

The Chelsea manager was taunted with chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' by thousands of travelling fans during the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The result saw the London club drop to fifth in the table and increased speculation about Villas-Boas's long-term future.

Chelsea have won the Premier League three times in the last seven years. But with 13 games of the campaign remaining, they trail leaders Manchester United by 15 points in Villas-Boas's first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Defeat at Everton followed last week's home capitulation against United when Chelsea were held to a 3-3 draw having led 3-0.

Asked after the game what he thought of the chants from Chelsea's fans, Villas-Boas said: "It's part of the job.

"At the moment we're sitting fifth in the league and it's not enough for us."

The former Porto manager added: "I think it was our worst game of the season in every sense of the word.

"It's nothing to do with the Manchester United game. Everton were fantastic. The recent signings have helped them improve a lot.

"We were short of anything positive. It's a very difficult day for us.

"There's a lot of negatives to take from the game and a lot of things to improve bearing in mind we're still fighting in the FA Cup and Champions League.

"We suffered very early in the game. We had control of possession until the end of the first-half but couldn't create enough chances.

"In the second-half we had no clarity and weren't able to create any chances. In the end it was that lack of clarity that punished us."

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has now failed to score in his last 14 Premier League games.

"He's trying a lot to get his chances and to shoot at goal," added Villas-Boas.

"However long it takes, we'll continue to pursue his confidence and his full form until he eventually finds the back of the net."

Everton moved up to 10th in the table thanks to goals from Steven Pienaar and Denis Stracqualursi.

Manager David Moyes praised South Africa international Pienaar, who returned to Goodison on loan last month - a year after leaving Everton for the London club.

"Bits of Pienaar's stuff was terrific," said Moyes. "It's as though he's never been away. Sometimes clubs just fit players and maybe this club suits him.

"He's got players who know when to give him the ball at the right time and he knows when to release it as well. That's why he was wanted by so many clubs a year ago or so."

"That was a great result for us. But the strange thing is I think we can play much better."